Fantasy baseball: Milton Bradley living up to expectations in Seattle (5-29-10)

THE SATURDAY RAG ARM
News and notes from around baseball which could affect your team

• Since returning from a two-week hiatus for anger management therapy, Seattle Mariners outfielder Milton Bradley has regained the offensive form that tempted the Seattle brass into signing the much-maligned Bradley this offseason. After hitting only an anemic .211 in April, Bradley has hit .290 since his return. If Bradley continues to produce, he will likely move to the third spot in Seattle’s batting order, where he will have top-notch table setters Ichiro and Chone Figgins batting ahead of him, creating RBI opportunities. The Mariners will face both Jered Weaver and a rejuvenated Francisco Liriano in their next three games, so you might want to hold off until Tuesday to jump on the Bradley bandwagon, when the M’s begin a four-game stretch against underwhelming opposing starters Nick Blackburn, Kevin Slowey, Carl Pavano and Joe Saunders.

• A starting pitcher who may still be flying under some radars is the San Diego Padres’ Mat Latos. The 6-foot-6 right-hander has an ERA of 3.09 and an opponents batting average of only .209 on the season, but in the last three weeks Latos has been even more impressive, going 3-0 with 0.93 ERA. He is scheduled to start tonight in San Diego against the Washington Nationals, a team that is only hitting .238 collectively on the road this season. Look for Latos to have another strong outing.

• There has been a fair amount of hype in the fantasy (baseball) world about Baltimore Orioles reliever Will Ohman, who has yet to allow an earned run this season and appears to be set to take over the closer role in the beleaguered Baltimore bullpen. Though Ohman’s price is still cheap, he may not be the bargain that many experts predict. As a lefty, Ohman had been used primarily in single-out, lefty-versus-lefty situations. Traditionally, these specialists have had trouble translating their success to entire innings. This will be even tougher for Ohman considering that every lineup in the AL East features a significant amount of right-handed talent (Alex Rodriguez, Kevin Youklis, Evan Longoria, Vernon Wells, etc.). This, coupled with the fact that save situations will be hard to come by for the struggling Orioles, should make fantasy owners think twice before jumping on the Ohman bandwagon.

• San Francisco Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez will have a favorable match up tonight against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Sanchez’s ERA is more than a full run lower in San Francisco’s spacious AT&T Park – 2.40 compared to 3.67 on the road – and the Diamondbacks are only hitting .257 as a team. Though only 2-4, Sanchez’s record is deceiving. His 56 strikeouts and 1.09 WHIP place him among the league leaders in both categories.

SATURDAY LAGNIAPPE

Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury was placed back on the disabled list Friday after it was determined that playing worsened the condition of his four broken ribs…Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andre Either played seven innings for triple-A Albuquerque Friday in a rehab stint, going 1-for-2 with two walks…Carlos Guillen returned to the Detroit Tigers lineup after having been out since April 23 with a strained left hamstring

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